


Greatest Fear

by Ilkwrdthngsdntjudge



Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Fluff, Gen, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilkwrdthngsdntjudge/pseuds/Ilkwrdthngsdntjudge
Summary: Adam was afraid of bullies.Mira was afraid of a doll.Kai was sure he didn’t have a fear.He was sure until it appeared in front of him...
Relationships: Adam/Kai (The Hollow)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 248
Collections: Really Random One Shot Collection





	1. Chapter 1

“So what’s your fear, Kai?”

“Me? Fear? Hah, I’m fearless!”  
Of course, he knew that he had a fear. Like everyone had a fear of bugs. Or had the fear of dying. Of course he had a fear.

But not the kind that Mira and Adam were thinking about. Mira was super-duper scared of a creepy doll. Adam was terrified of some bullies.

Kai didn’t have that kind of fear.  
At least, he didn’t think so.

Then his friends waved to him. “Hello Miss! Hello Sir! Have we met?” Kai cocked his head to the side, confused, especially when they stood up.

“Uh, yeah, we’ve met. We were just talking a couple of seconds ago.” Mira rolled her eyes, pointing over his shoulder.

“We weren’t talking to you, doofus. The adults coming over here. Looks like they’re wearing suits.” That made Kai’s heart race. He whipped around and froze when he saw who Adam and Mira were waving at. The adults came and sat with them on the patio.

“Hey Mom. Hey Dad.” He sat straighter, held his teacup delicately, pulled his legs together and looked straight ahead, never met their gazes.

“Hello, Kai. How are you? Who are these wonderful people?”  
His Mom, a pretty woman with beautiful straight copper hair. That was all she was to him. A pretty woman.  
His Dad, a strict man wearing a suit with many medals pinned to his breast. That was all he was to him. A strict man.

That was all.

“These are my friends. Mira and Adam.” Mira and Adam were giving him weird looks. He really wished they sat up in front of them.

“Ah, I see. Well, make sure to keep them comfortable, son.” Did his father even remember his name? He only ever called him son or sport or champ. Never by his name.

Adam, Mira and his parents all continued to talk, laughing and joking like all friends. But Kai wasn’t joking. He wasn’t even talking. It made Adam worry.

“Kai, Mira and I all go to the same school. I think Kai’s just a year younger than us, but we all go to the Hollow Club after school.” Adam gave Kai an encouraging look. Kai just gulped.

“Y-yeah. I’m the youngest person in the club to get a score over 50,000.” His Dad barely smiles.

“Good, good, an accomplishment. Set a good example for your friends, yes champ?”

Adam spoke up. “Don’t worry sir, he sets a great example for us, don’t you Kai?” He nudged him slightly and Kai winced. He gave Adam a pleading look. But all Adam did was look back at him with shock.

Kai lowered his voice to whisper to Adam and Mira. “Sit up straight. Don’t look them in the eyes.” Adam and Mira just looked more concerned. A sudden booming voice jolted Kai in fear.

“KAI! Pay attention when we are speaking to you!” He nodded meekly, bowing his head and never exposing his face.

“Sorry, dad. I was just telling Adam and Mira some-” Adam and Mira screamed when a hand struck his cheek.

“Did I tell you to speak back?!” Kai bit his lip.

“No s-“ The hand struck his jaw and Kai lurched to the side, completely unprepared. He heard screaming, heard his Mom’s voice.

“KYLE! KYLE, STOP!” He looked up in time to see his father push his mother away before a well-aimed kick winded him.

“We have to discipline him, Sandra! When I was a boy, I never talked back! I always did my chores! I didn’t laze around all day playing games! I didn’t have a butler do everything for me!”

His Dad was a large man and Kai knew Adam, super strength or no, couldn’t go against him. He just couldn’t.  
So he was very surprised when his Dad was thrown backwards by him, who grabbed his arm mid-punch and threw him over his shoulder, making him land on his back on the patio stairs.

“Kai! Kai!” Dazed, he saw his Mom kneel in front of him in worry, checking him over before she ran to her husband and slapped him. “You! I should never have married you!”

Kai couldn’t hear the end of that conversation. He was pulled up and dragged away by Adam and Mira. He snapped out of his daze and ran with them, heaving from the sharp pain in his chest, where his dad kicked him.

“Kai! KAI!” He didn’t even realised they stopped running. They were hiding by his hedge. He could still hear his father’s yelling and his mother’s screeching. A feeling of dread filled him.

Was this his greatest fear?

“Kai! We’ve got to go! We’ve gotta run!”

So they run. Through Kai’s neighbourhood, their fences nothing but a wall of leaves. His Dad was running after them, yelling at them to give up, to let Kai go, that they were bad influences.

God, he wanted this to stop.

His Dad’s “sessions”.

His parents’ fights.

The nights alone.

God, he wanted this to _stop_.

It was only when Adam grabbed his hand and held tight that he realised they did. His Dad was barely home anymore, ever since he turned thirteen.

They weren’t home anymore, so he didn’t have to listen to the screaming of his parents through his walls and try to block them out with the sound of guns on the TV screen.

And he had Adam and Mira. Mira, who was a big sister to him, always there when he needed a shoulder to cry on, or when he had a major crush.  
Adam, who helped him find himself, as well as find love.

So when they were cornered by all their fears on the street, in the middle of the pouring rain, he held onto Adam’s hand and faced his fears, looking straight into his parents’ eyes. Green and blue. Dull green and blue. Not his real parents. Just a fear.

_“I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!!!”_


	2. Adam and Mira’s POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These were Kai’s parents, right?
> 
> Why was he so quiet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone gave me the AMAZING idea to have the story in Adam and Mira’s POV’s

“So what’s your fear, Kai?”

”Me? Fear? Hah, I’m fearless!“

I knew that Kai knew what they meant. I was about to tell him when I spotted two figures approaching the patio in the distance.

Mira called out to them, smiling her “impress the parents” smile.

”Hello Miss! Hello Sir! Have we met?” She set down her cup and I copied, waving and standing up. If these were really Kai’s parents, I’d want to leave a good first impression, wouldn’t I?

”Uh, yeah, we’ve met. We were just talking a couple of seconds ago.” Was... was Kai serious? Mira rolled her eyes from beside me.

”Not you, doofus. The adults coming over here. Looks like they’re wearing suits.” Kai stiffened and he seemed to pale, turning to face the two grownups quickly.

He slumped, looked _devastated,_ before he straightened, wiped the frown off his face, held his cup differently and looked straight ahead, even when the two adults stepped onto the patio.

“Hey Mom. Hey Dad.” I didn’t know what happened, but this was different. Kai was acting different. Was it because-?

“Hello Kai. How are you? Who are these wonderful people.” Kai’s mom was pretty. Pale skin that seemed to glow, her dark chestnut hair a stark contrast to her skin. Kai looked a lot like her.

His dad, on the other hand, was a big man. Tall and wide, he seemed to be almost two-thirds bigger than Kai. His dark brown hair was slicked to the side, and he had war medals pinned to his navy-blue jacket.

Kai spoke up. “These are my friends. Mira and Adam.” Okay, now I _know_ something was wrong. Kai sounded so... emotionless. His voice was unusually low, and he had to strain his ears to hear it. I glanced at Mira. She looked slightly worried too.

“Ah, I see. Well, make sure to keep them comfortable, son.” Kai’s dad seemed to be an intimidating man. Well, all the more reason to try and get into good terms with him.

”Nice to meet you sir. I’m Adam, as you already know. You too ma’am.”

Mira and I continued to chat. Kai’s mom seemed to have a similar sense of humour to Kai, but his dad was indifferent. He didn’t smile, didn’t laugh. The only thing he did was criticise Kai, or subtly pick at Mira’s clothing. 

He seemed like a man who would spite me by my sexuality, so I didn’t mention that Kai and I were together.

The way he criticised Kai irritated me, so I butt in for a bit. “Kai, Mira and I all go to the same school. I think Kai’s just a year younger than us, but we all go to the Hollow Club after school.” I gave Kai a look. He knows that look.

He laughs nervously. “Y-yeah. I’m the youngest person in the club to get a score over 50,000.” Why did he sound so nervous about this? He usually brags about it!

I begin to understand when his dad barely cracks a smile. “Good, good, an accomplishment.” Was that supposed to be a _compliment_? “Set an example for your friends, yes champ?”

I _seethe_. “Don’t worry sir, he sets a great example for us, don’t you Kai?” I elbow him gently, watching for his reaction. He finches. Fucking _flinches_. What did his dad do?

Kai whispered to the two of us, Mira and me. “Sit up straight. Don’t look them in the eyes.” We just stare back in worry and shock. What did that _mean_? What was Kai _going through_ after all this time?

We all jolt in shock (and fear) when Kai’s father yells. “KAI! Pay attention when we are speaking to you!” Kai slouches with his neck, bending it forward. Like he was hiding his face. From what? “Sorry dad, I was just telling Adam and Mira some-“

Mira and I _scream_ when Kai’s dad hits Kai’s face. He roars in anger, but Kai didn’t do anything _wrong_ -

I can’t do anything but sit and watch in _shock_ as he hits Kai again, taking Kai by surprise as he lurched to the side from the force of the hit.

Kai’s mom is shrieking at him to stop, and he says something about fucking _discipline_ and he kicks Kai in the chest while he’s down-

I see red. I finally shake off my horror and run forward, intercepting the fist aiming down at Kai’s fallen figure and turn, holding the arm over my shoulder and throwing the man onto the patio steps.

Kai’s mom runs towards Kai, checks him for serious injuries. I almost expect her to start crying, but she doesn’t, intend she goes to slap her husband. That makes me wonder just how bad Kai’s father usually treats him.

Mira and I help Kai up, and we run towards the hedges, using them for cover. Kai was dazed, and Mira tried to snap him out of it while I peeked around the corner to see Kyle and Sandra screaming at each other. Sheesh, they were _horrible_.

“Kai! KAI!” I saw Kyle turn towards us and I grab Mira’s arm, pulling her away and yelling at Kai. “Kai! We’ve gotta go! We’ve gotta run!”

He ran. My heart ached for him, and I grabbed his hand and held it tight, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

They ran through the neighbourhood, heaving through branches and away from Kyle’s booming voice. They made it to the street, but my bullies were there, waiting.

Desperate, we turn to the other street, but there was a creepy doll standing there, slowly walking towards us as she sang “mama.”

We turned to go back, but there were Kai’s parents, his mother turning red in the face with screaming at her husband, and his father curling his hands into fists beside him.

We were trapped.

But Kai’s limp hand suddenly tightened, suddenly squeezed mine, and he turned to face his parents, finally looking up.

This is why I fell in love with him. Even when he was scared shitless, he always faced his fears. His greatest fears.

_“I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!!!“_


End file.
